Thursday, 10 December 2009
flood images.1
These images are part of out initial research for the Dialogue Ignites Change project. These specifically show the consequences of flooding upon society
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
2004 tsunami
The Deadliest Tsunami in History?
The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Giant forces that had been building up deep in the Earth for hundreds of years were released suddenly on December 26, shaking the ground violently and unleashing a series of killer waves that sped across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet airliner.
By the end of the day more than 150,000 people were dead or missing and millions more were homeless in 11 countries, making it perhaps the most destructive tsunami in history.
The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to the USGS, which monitors earthquakes worldwide. The violent movement of sections of the Earth's crust, known as tectonic plates, displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock waves in every direction.
The earthquake was the result of the sliding of the portion of the Earth's crust known as the India plate under the section called the Burma plate. The process has been going on for millennia, one plate pushing against the other until something has to give. The result on December 26 was a rupture the USGS estimates was more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) long, displacing the seafloor above the rupture by perhaps 10 yards (about 10 meters) horizontally and several yards vertically. That doesn't sound like much, but the trillions of tons of rock that were moved along hundreds of miles caused the planet to shudder with the largest magnitude earthquake in 40 years.
Above the disturbed seafloor the great volume of the ocean was displaced along the line of the rupture, creating one of nature's most deadly phenomena: a tsunami. Within hours killer waves radiating from the earthquake zone slammed into the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries, snatching people out to sea, drowning others in their homes or on beaches, and demolishing property from Africa to Thailand.
Tsunamis have been relatively rare in the Indian Ocean, at least in human memory. They are most prevalent in the Pacific. But every ocean has generated the scourges. Many countries are at risk. (Read "Tsunami: Facts About Killer Waves" for more about killer waves' causes and warning signs—information that can be a lifesaver in a tsunami zone.)
For more about the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 scroll down the page.
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as much as 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 kilometers) to Africa, arriving with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property.
A tsunami may be less than a foot (30 centimeters) in height on the surface of the open ocean, which is why they are not noticed by sailors. But the powerful pulse of energy travels rapidly through the ocean at hundreds of miles per hour. Once a tsunami reaches shallow water near the coast it is slowed down. The top of the wave moves faster than the bottom, causing the sea to rise dramatically.
The Indian Ocean tsunami caused waves as high as 50 feet (15 meters) in some places, according to news reports. But in many other places witnesses described a rapid surging of the ocean, more like an extremely powerful river or a flood than the advance and retreat of giant waves.
Tsunamis can extend inland by a thousand feet (300 meters) or more. The enormous force and weight of so much water sweeps away almost everything in its path. As many as a third of the people who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami were children; many of them would not have been strong enough to resist the force of the water. Many people were crushed by debris or when the sea hurled them against structures.
Witnesses said the approaching tsunami sounded like three freight trains or the roar of a jet. In some places the tsunami advanced as a torrent of foaming water.
In several places the tsunami announced itself in the form of a rapidly receding ocean. Many reports quoted survivors saying how they had never seen the sea withdraw such a distance, exposing seafloor never seen before, stranding fish and boats on the sand. Tragically the novelty of the sight apparently stoked the curiosity of the people who ran out onto the exposed seafloor. Tourists in Thailand were seen wandering around photographing the scene.
Geographic Knowledge Saved Lives
People who knew geography knew what the receding ocean meant. Survivors who knew it meant trouble reported how they ran for high ground, rounded up family and friends, and tried to warn people who were drawn to the water's edge. Experts say that a receding ocean may give people as much as five minutes' warning to escape to high ground. That may have been enough time for many of the people who were killed by the 2004 tsunami to save themselves, if only they knew what to do.
A British newspaper reported that a school student, on vacation in Thailand, recalled a geography lesson about tsunamis and what the withdrawal of the ocean meant. She warned her family and they saved themselves.
In India a man told the Associated Press how he saved his village of some 1,500 people because he recalled watching a National Geographic television documentary about tsunamis [Killer Wave], and remembered that when the ocean receded it was a sign of danger. He sounded the alarm and led the people to high ground, saving almost the entire village.
Somehow the animals also seemed to know that disaster was imminent. Many people reported that they saw animals fleeing for high ground minutes before the tsunami arrived. Very few animal bodies were found afterwards.
When the ocean started to return on December 26 it was in the form of the tsunami—a series of crashing waves in some places and a sudden flood hundreds of yards inland in others. Reports quoted survivors saying they could not run away fast enough, although many people did manage to escape.
Death struck randomly. People who were together when the tsunami struck were separated in the torrent. Some survived; others succumbed or disappeared. A baby was found floating safely on a mattress.
Survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami reported that the sea surged out as fast and as powerfully as it came ashore. Many people who had survived the wall of water rushing inland were seen being swept out to sea when the ocean retreated.
A tsunami is a series of waves, and the first wave may not be the most dangerous. A tsunami "wave train" may come as surges five minutes to an hour apart. The cycle may be marked by repeated retreat and advance of the ocean. Some people did not know this on December 26. Once the first wave had gone, they thought it was safe to go down to the beach.
The Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed thousands of miles of coastline and even submerged entire islands permanently. The island country Maldives rises only a few feet above sea level, but it is largely protected by outlying coral reefs. Even so, the tsunami swept across the reefs and was reported to have washed over some islands entirely. The capital and many tourist resorts in the Maldives were flooded. Astonishingly, relatively few people were killed. The country was likely protected from the full force of the tsunami by its reefs.
Rotting Corpses
As the day of horror drew to a close the ocean calmed. But where at the start of the day people were going about their normal lives or relaxing at exotic beach resorts now millions of people were struggling with the reality of tens of thousands of dead or missing relatives, destroyed homes, and shattered lives. The thousands of corpses, many hanging in trees or washed up on beaches, immediately started to rot in the tropical heat. With no food or clean water and open wounds, the risk of famine and epidemic diseases was high. Health authorities feared that the death toll might double to 300,000.
Across the world the magnitude of the disaster and the scale of the suffering prompted a new wave—one of sympathy, support, and assistance for the people affected by the tsunami.
Deep beneath the ocean, at the source of the great earthquake and tsunami, the Earth's tectonic plates continued their relentless pressing against one another. Pressure was already building for the day when pent-up energy will once again be released violently—but hopefully not for hundreds of years.
maya ocean- stormy
I created this in Maya as a quick experiment showing a stormy ocean which is emphasised through a camera being effected by waves.
Friday, 4 December 2009
tsunami images
a couple of images here
the first an image that illustrates what happened during the 2004 tsunami
the second illustrates the difference between a regular wind induced waves and a tsunami in terms of water movements
national geographic tsunami facts
Tsunamis
Click here to find out more!
Tsunami: Killer Waves
The most infamous tsunami of modern times hit Indian Ocean shorelines on the day after Christmas 2004. That tsunami is believed to have packed the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Some 150,000 people were killed in a single day.
Photograph by Deshakalyan Chowdhury
The most infamous tsunami of modern times hit Indian Ocean shorelines on the day after Christmas 2004. That tsunami is believed to have packed the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Some 150,000 people were killed in a single day.
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 feet (30.5 meters), onto land. These walls of water can cause widespread destruction when they crash ashore.
These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly it displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami.
Most tsunamis, about 80 percent, happen within the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” a geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common.
Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be launched, as they frequently were in Earth’s ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite plunging into an ocean.
Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hour—about as fast as a jet airplane. At that pace they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day. And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way.
In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. The tops of the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously.
A tsunami’s trough, the low point beneath the wave’s crest, often reaches shore first. When it does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor and sea floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the wave’s crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives.
A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations.
Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly surging tide that inundates coastal areas.
The best defense against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii, maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide.
Expand/Collapse This
Click here to find out more!
Tsunami: Killer Waves
The most infamous tsunami of modern times hit Indian Ocean shorelines on the day after Christmas 2004. That tsunami is believed to have packed the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Some 150,000 people were killed in a single day.
Photograph by Deshakalyan Chowdhury
The most infamous tsunami of modern times hit Indian Ocean shorelines on the day after Christmas 2004. That tsunami is believed to have packed the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. Some 150,000 people were killed in a single day.
A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 feet (30.5 meters), onto land. These walls of water can cause widespread destruction when they crash ashore.
These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly it displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami.
Most tsunamis, about 80 percent, happen within the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” a geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common.
Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be launched, as they frequently were in Earth’s ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite plunging into an ocean.
Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hour—about as fast as a jet airplane. At that pace they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day. And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way.
In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. The tops of the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously.
A tsunami’s trough, the low point beneath the wave’s crest, often reaches shore first. When it does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor and sea floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the wave’s crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives.
A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations.
Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly surging tide that inundates coastal areas.
The best defense against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii, maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide.
Expand/Collapse This
tsunami timeline
this is a piece i have found on the net.
a timeline of tsunamis which indicates when and gives an idea of where tsunamis happen in the world.
a timeline of tsunamis which indicates when and gives an idea of where tsunamis happen in the world.
551 Beirut destroyed by earthquake and tsunami.
1607 Tidal wave swept along the Bristol Channel, killing 2000 people. (Possibly tsunami)
1700 The Cascadia Earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes on record, ruptures the Cascadia subduction zone offshore from Vancouver Island to northern California, creating a tsunami logged in Japan and oral traditions of the American First Nations.
1755 1755 Lisbon earthquake: In Portugal, Lisbon is destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami, killing 60,000 - 90,000 people.
1792 Old lava dome collapses in Kyushu, Japan when Mount Unzen volcano erupts - resulting avalanche and tsunami kills about 14300
1906 Typhoon with tsunami kills an estimated 10,000 persons in Hong Kong.
1929 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula area, killing 28. As of 1997, it is Canada's most lethal earthquake.
1946 14-meter high tsunami strikes Hilo, Hawaii - 173 dead, thousands injured.
1960 May 22
1971 A tsunami 85 m high rises over the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It throws a 750-ton block of coral 2.5 km inland.
1971 A cyclone and tsunami in the Bay of Bengal, in Orissa State in India, kills 10,000.
1979 A tsunami in Nice, France kills 23 people.
1993 A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off Hokkaido, Japan launches a devastating tsunami, killing 202 on the small island of Okushiri, Hokkaido.
1998 A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea, killing an estimated 1,500, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless.
2004 One of the worst natural disasters in recorded history hits southeastern Asia when the strongest earthquake in 40 years hits the entire Indian Ocean region. The massive 9.3 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, generates enormous tsunami waves that crash into the coastal areas of a number of nations including Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Burma and Indonesia. The official death toll in the affected countries stands at 186,983 while more than 40,000 people are still missing.
2004 tsunami simulations
looking into tsunamis led me to this video.
a computer generated simulation of the 2004 tsunami.
seeing it in this perspective makes it seem almost calming and gentle.
to me its like looking at a still pond that has had a stone dropped into it and the waves look like ripples.
a computer generated simulation of the 2004 tsunami.
seeing it in this perspective makes it seem almost calming and gentle.
to me its like looking at a still pond that has had a stone dropped into it and the waves look like ripples.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/nov/23/flooding-weather
A weather blog on the Guardian website which had a live update on the flooding situation
A weather blog on the Guardian website which had a live update on the flooding situation
Guardian news report 2
Bad weather prompts flood warnings and caravan park rescue
Eleven people rescued in North Yorkshire as Met Office forecasts snow in northern England over coming week
Floods have wreaked havoc across northern England in recent weeks. Photograph: Andrew Yates/AFP/Getty Images
Residents had to be rescued from a flooded caravan park in North Yorkshire overnight, as the Environment Agency issued 31 flood warnings across the UK.
Eleven people were rescued from caravans in North Yorkshire as heavy rain threatened towns and villages in the county, while the Met Office issued a weather warning for south-east England and east Anglia.
The Met Office said temperatures across Britain are expected to drop to as low as -6C over the next two days, and snow is predicted in northern England and Scotland over the coming week, potentially hindering recovery efforts in flood-devastated areas of Cumbria.
North Yorkshire fire and rescue service said they were summoned to Knaresborough, four miles north east of Harrogate, at 2am this morning.
"Eleven people in total were assisted from caravans by ourselves at a caravan park near the river Nidd in Knaresborough overnight," a spokeswoman said.
"We sent out 14 firefighters in three fire appliances [engines] and a boat."
She said the boat was used to transport the people to the safety of a "local clubhouse" in Knaresborough. The spokeswoman said fire crews would be returning to the river today to check water levels.
The environment agency has 31 flood warnings – its second most serious measure – in place across the UK, including 20 in North Yorkshire. A spokesman for the agency said it came "very close to issuing a severe flood warning overnight, but the threat dropped".
The Met Office issued a weather warning for south-east England and East England overnight as rain spread from North Yorkshire. Devon was also hit by heavy rainfall as water levels rose by as much as 4ft on Sunday.
Robin Downton, a forecaster at the Met Office, said the days ahead would see low temperatures before a wet weather front arrives from the Atlantic.
"We are expecting widespread frost on Monday night and in frost prone areas such as the west Midlands and north-east of England temperatures will drop as low as -5 or -6C," he said.
Some parts of Britain experienced the first snows of winter on Saturday. The Llanberis Pass in north Wales saw an inch and a half of snowfall as well as some higher ground in Scotland such as the Cairngorms.
Cockermouth in Cumbria, which was submerged just over a week ago by more than 12 inches of rainfall in 24 hours, was another area which could be hit by as much as 3-5cm of snow, MeteoGroup UK said.
The Prince of Wales visited the area over the weekend to boost morale as locals cleaned up the destruction caused by the floods. The prince thanked emergency services for their work in the recovery operation, and paid tribute to PC Bill Barker who died while turning traffic away from a bridge when it collapsed.
He also urged visitors not to cancel holidays in Cumbria, where businesses are struggling to recover after the damage.
Army engineers have begun building the foundations of a footbridge to reconnect the two halves of Workington where one bridge collapsed. Households in the Northside area of Workington face long detours to get to the town centre or local schools.
Six bridges in the county have collapsed since last week's heavy rainfall, and Downton said more rain was due this week and would "continue to be a nuisance to areas which have been hit by flooding". But Cumbria would be spared from the worst as the heavy fall moves eastwards, he added.
The flooding during the weekend caused two deaths. Paula Deacon, 57, died after slipping and falling off a bridge into the river Seaton at Hessenford, in east Cornwall, and police pulled the body of a man thought to be in his 30s from the river Taff in Cardiff.
Despite the bad weather, the Met Office predicted last week that Britain would have a mild winter because of the El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean
The Guardian news report
Jeddah flood deaths shame Saudi royals
For lack of a sewage system, many citizens in one of the world's richest countries died. The Al Saud family's misrule is to blame Jeddah floods
Hundreds have died in the Jeddah floods. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Last week the Saudi city of Jeddah was afflicted by heavy rains that lasted only a few hours but caused massive flooding and the deaths of more than 500 people. To lessen the embarrassment, official reports shrank the number of flood-related deaths to just over 100.
Many Saudis are asking how such a catastrophe could occur in one of the world's richest countries and in its second-largest and most cosmopolitan city.
This was the most severe nature-related calamity that the world's largest oil exporter has seen in the past 50 years but the real reason for the death and destruction that occurred last Wednesday is endemic corruption in the Saudi government.
Jeddah is a great example of corruption. This city of more than 4 million people still lacks a sewage system and treatment facility. The rain that fell last week had nowhere to go but to flood the streets and neighbourhoods, creating havoc and death in its path.
Hundreds of bodies were swept in the current and up to 11,000 people may be missing in the sea, according to a report two days ago by the Saudi newspaper al-Yaum. This figure may be inflated but the number of the missing and dead surely ranks in the hundreds, and could turn out to exceed a thousand. For comparison, hurricane Katrina in the US killed about 1,800 people.
The Saudi government reaction to the disaster in Jeddah followed the usual formula of denial followed by blame of the victims for failing to follow government orders. Instead of taking responsibility, a Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca region, in which Jeddah lies, blamed "arbitrarily built" neighbourhoods, and not the absence of a sewage system. Saudi media, which is mostly owned and fully controlled by the ruling family, followed suit and pointed a finger at citizens who bought land and built houses in unplanned areas.
This has brought to light yet another fact of life in Saudi Arabia: most citizens are unable to buy a home. The percentage of adult Saudis who do not own homes is around 80% – in sharp contrast to other Gulf countries such as Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, where home ownership rates exceed 80%, thanks to government programmes.
The cause of the low home ownership is the high price of land. This may seem surprising in such a huge country with a relatively small population, but it results from land grabs by members of the ruling family. Many Saudi citizens woke up one day to find that the land they had either inherited or paid good money for has been taken over by a member of the Al Saud. The land deed that the citizen holds becomes worthless and no court will take up the issue. If you complain too much, you will end up in prison.
We Saudis have witnessed massive land seizures across that bare country where fences are erected by princes to enclose hundreds of square kilometres. Jeddah is infamous for land grabs by members of the ruling family – land that is then sold to citizens looking to build a home, without the required planning and infrastructure such as sewage, electricity, water and phone.
King Abdullah has ordered the formation of an investigative committee, headed by the governor of Mecca himself. The committee will not hold any public hearing, or subject members of the "infallible" ruling family to its authority. Let us remember, this is Saudi Arabia, where the Al Saud family are considered above the law. The king's order was received with praise by Saudi media, who referred to his brilliant vision – as is the custom for all of the king's orders, policies, speeches and actions.
The facts, however, paint a very different picture. King Abdullah had ample time and money to meet the development needs for Jeddah and other cities and construct a basic sewage system and other infrastructures for every major city. But it appears that subjects' needs matter very little to an absolute ruler. The people of Saudi Arabia matter very little as well to Arab or international governments who have yet to send condolences or express sympathy for the victims.
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia 71 years ago in 1938, but the kings' governments have failed to use oil revenues since then to build a decent infrastructure in Jeddah and other cities. The Al Saud tribe, led by the king, has ruled since 1932 bears all the blame for the disaster in Jeddah and all the government failures for the past 80 years.
No one should blame lazy municipal workers or cheating contractors, or even senior government officials who work under the Al Saud. Simply, we must blame the boss, the big boss. That's where the buck stops.
The state of our country is best exemplified by the Musk Lake, where 1,200 tankers of human waste from Jeddah sewage have been dumped daily for the past 25 years. Naming this chasm of foulness "musk" gives great insight in how Saudi rulers distort the simplest of realities. Musk Lake, not the only lake of human waste in the country, has been the source of diseases such as dengue fever, which has killed dozens and afflicted thousands for years.
At the end of the day, the Saudi absolute monarchy will absolve itself from any responsibility and shortcomings, and its princes will continue live the high life with very little care in the world. May the dead of Jeddah rest in peace and may their families find comfort in each other.
For lack of a sewage system, many citizens in one of the world's richest countries died. The Al Saud family's misrule is to blame Jeddah floods
Hundreds have died in the Jeddah floods. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Last week the Saudi city of Jeddah was afflicted by heavy rains that lasted only a few hours but caused massive flooding and the deaths of more than 500 people. To lessen the embarrassment, official reports shrank the number of flood-related deaths to just over 100.
Many Saudis are asking how such a catastrophe could occur in one of the world's richest countries and in its second-largest and most cosmopolitan city.
This was the most severe nature-related calamity that the world's largest oil exporter has seen in the past 50 years but the real reason for the death and destruction that occurred last Wednesday is endemic corruption in the Saudi government.
Jeddah is a great example of corruption. This city of more than 4 million people still lacks a sewage system and treatment facility. The rain that fell last week had nowhere to go but to flood the streets and neighbourhoods, creating havoc and death in its path.
Hundreds of bodies were swept in the current and up to 11,000 people may be missing in the sea, according to a report two days ago by the Saudi newspaper al-Yaum. This figure may be inflated but the number of the missing and dead surely ranks in the hundreds, and could turn out to exceed a thousand. For comparison, hurricane Katrina in the US killed about 1,800 people.
The Saudi government reaction to the disaster in Jeddah followed the usual formula of denial followed by blame of the victims for failing to follow government orders. Instead of taking responsibility, a Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca region, in which Jeddah lies, blamed "arbitrarily built" neighbourhoods, and not the absence of a sewage system. Saudi media, which is mostly owned and fully controlled by the ruling family, followed suit and pointed a finger at citizens who bought land and built houses in unplanned areas.
This has brought to light yet another fact of life in Saudi Arabia: most citizens are unable to buy a home. The percentage of adult Saudis who do not own homes is around 80% – in sharp contrast to other Gulf countries such as Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, where home ownership rates exceed 80%, thanks to government programmes.
The cause of the low home ownership is the high price of land. This may seem surprising in such a huge country with a relatively small population, but it results from land grabs by members of the ruling family. Many Saudi citizens woke up one day to find that the land they had either inherited or paid good money for has been taken over by a member of the Al Saud. The land deed that the citizen holds becomes worthless and no court will take up the issue. If you complain too much, you will end up in prison.
We Saudis have witnessed massive land seizures across that bare country where fences are erected by princes to enclose hundreds of square kilometres. Jeddah is infamous for land grabs by members of the ruling family – land that is then sold to citizens looking to build a home, without the required planning and infrastructure such as sewage, electricity, water and phone.
King Abdullah has ordered the formation of an investigative committee, headed by the governor of Mecca himself. The committee will not hold any public hearing, or subject members of the "infallible" ruling family to its authority. Let us remember, this is Saudi Arabia, where the Al Saud family are considered above the law. The king's order was received with praise by Saudi media, who referred to his brilliant vision – as is the custom for all of the king's orders, policies, speeches and actions.
The facts, however, paint a very different picture. King Abdullah had ample time and money to meet the development needs for Jeddah and other cities and construct a basic sewage system and other infrastructures for every major city. But it appears that subjects' needs matter very little to an absolute ruler. The people of Saudi Arabia matter very little as well to Arab or international governments who have yet to send condolences or express sympathy for the victims.
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia 71 years ago in 1938, but the kings' governments have failed to use oil revenues since then to build a decent infrastructure in Jeddah and other cities. The Al Saud tribe, led by the king, has ruled since 1932 bears all the blame for the disaster in Jeddah and all the government failures for the past 80 years.
No one should blame lazy municipal workers or cheating contractors, or even senior government officials who work under the Al Saud. Simply, we must blame the boss, the big boss. That's where the buck stops.
The state of our country is best exemplified by the Musk Lake, where 1,200 tankers of human waste from Jeddah sewage have been dumped daily for the past 25 years. Naming this chasm of foulness "musk" gives great insight in how Saudi rulers distort the simplest of realities. Musk Lake, not the only lake of human waste in the country, has been the source of diseases such as dengue fever, which has killed dozens and afflicted thousands for years.
At the end of the day, the Saudi absolute monarchy will absolve itself from any responsibility and shortcomings, and its princes will continue live the high life with very little care in the world. May the dead of Jeddah rest in peace and may their families find comfort in each other.
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